Facing a Fear
by Mmsimpy09
Summary: Just another day with the pack in La Push. Paul is always a little volatile but does his gentle nature sometimes show through the bad boy façade?


**Summary**: Just another day with the pack in La Push. Paul is always a little volatile but does his gentle nature sometimes show through the bad boy façade?

**AN:** _I wanted to take a moment and pay my respects for TwiFanG. Personally, I did not know her but I've heard many good things about her. Her death was tragic, and heartbreaking to many. I'm just happy to have a have a chance to somehow contribute in her memory. Also, my very amazing beta, Bmitw, would like to express her sorrow in the loss of such a loved member of our fandom. The lovely banner was created by Cat (Rhodes11)  
–Megan (Mmsimpy09)_

Facing a Fear

"What the hell, Paul," Sam snapped, making both Emily and I take a step back. We plastered ourselves into the counter behind us. "I think you need to calm the fuck down or get out of my house."

There was a low growl coming from Paul, "well, maybe I'd calm down if the leech lover wasn't always fucking here. She isn't part of the pack, she wants the fucking leech. Yet here we are, running ourselves ragged trying to protect her. The girl who is constantly twisting a knife in the heart of one of our brothers, don't forget that shit. As much as I hate to admit it, he doesn't deserve having his heart toyed with, no one does."

"I honestly don't give a damn about how you feel about Bella," Sam snapped back. "Jacob has asked us to protect her from the very beings we were made to kill. We were cursed to this existence to kill vampires Paul and that is exactly what we will continue to do. Quite frankly, I don't care whether you agree or not. I'm the Alpha and my word is law."

"We were created to protect our people, not the pale faces," Paul hissed in response.

Sam snarled slightly as he looked at Paul. "Bella is in danger and if we eliminate the vampires coming after her we are also keeping our tribe safe. What you think or feel, it doesn't matter because we are going to keep doing things the way we are and that isn't going to change."

Paul's entire body was shaking as he listened to the words Sam, his Alpha, was speaking. It bothered me that Sam seemed so quick to dismiss the concerns of one of his pack mates. Of course, there were better ways the hotheaded wolf could have handled the confrontation, but he made his position clear and that really was all that he could do.

"OUTSIDE, NOW," Sam yelled to the shaking man.

Almost instantly Paul was moving for the door and slamming it open on his way out. Sam, Jared, and Embry were following closely behind. Both Leah and Seth were patrolling and I knew that if Paul needed a fight, the angry she wolf would be the one to give him just that. She always did like to find herself a good fight… it was usually with the easiest pack member to provoke, Paul.

After all four men had departed, I looked around the small kitchen. Quil and Jacob were sitting at the table with a timid looking Bella smashed between them. She had tears falling down her reddened cheeks and her eyes were beginning to get puffy. I almost felt a little bad for the girl, but in the end I really didn't. I was a very strong believer that if you make your bed, you have to lay down in it. Bella, she simply didn't understand that concept.

All of her decisions have led her down a road that would inevitably lead to her death as a human. Sure, she would be reborn as a vampire but that isn't the point. Bella made it very clear she loved Edward more than she loved Jacob. It was clear that she did care for the teenaged wolf but she made it crystal clear that he was not the one for her. When she went gallivanting off to Italy for her dead sparkly lover, she hurt Jake very badly and didn't seem to even care. Those actions, they brought Jacob Black's world crashing down on him. Personally, I hoped that it would serve to make him a little less naïve, which wasn't exactly the case because he couldn't let her go.

He just didn't fully understand her devotion to the leech and I wasn't sure that he ever would… not until she took her last breath at least. Even with the hurt she caused when she chose Edward over him, he wasn't giving up on her. That was something he made clear to everyone and we all knew it would end badly for him. I hated to think about it but he was doing this to himself and he needed to learn this very painful lesson.

I let out a soft sigh and snapped myself from my musings as I set a tray full of sandwiched on the table. Emily was right behind me with another full plate of them. As I took my seat I glanced at Bella once more. It was easy to see the traces of discomfort lingering on her face which was a result of Paul and Sam's confrontation. For a moment I wondered if she knew that Paul was speaking on behalf of several of the pack members, but I knew that she didn't. Jacob tried to keep her wrapped in a soft and warm blanket of fur because she was a fragile mess. One more huff and puff from a big bad wolf and I was certain she might just shatter.

You could easily tell that the words spoken by the angry wolf had truly affected her. Bella didn't strike me as a complete moron and I was sure that she knew there was truth to what he said. The long that I watched her the more I picked up on. Her self confidence was low, that was written in her eyes. The young woman didn't believe that she was worth anything and with an attitude like that, I had to silently agree. As if she could sense me staring, she looked up and her dull eyes met mine. I saw some sort of silent plea but I wasn't really sure she was trying to ask me for… regardless… I had no reason to offer her my help.

"Well, wasn't it just fun to watch that heated exchange," I commented as I reached forward to grab a sandwich.

"I really thought they were going to phase in my kitchen," Emily laughed as she sat beside me. "They have already broken my table twice and they aren't cheap to replace. I do have to admit that I find it really sexy when Sam gets riled up like that."

"Not at all, Em," I smiled but our attempt to lighten the mood didn't seem to work for Jacob and Bella, but Quill was trying to hide his smile as he ate. "I mean there is nothing like a nice dominant man. Does that carry over to the bedroom?"

"From time to time it does," she admitted. "It can be really interesting a lot of fun. I love when he uses his Alpha timbre because it gets to me. I've told him that he and Paul should get D and M tattooed on their ass and that the O can be left for the imagination."

I choked on the sip of water I was taking. "How would you know if Paul is dominant?" I questioned wide eyed.

"Have you met they guy," she winked. "He just oozes that whole dominance thing when he is around."

"I've obviously met him Em," I laughed. "Thinking of him in bed…" I trailed off not wanting to say the res out loud.

Both Emily and I spent a few minutes enjoying our lighthearted conversation. When we stopped I couldn't help but take note of Bella who was watching us with wide eyes. Jacob looked incredibly annoyed by what we were discussing in the presence of his innocent little Bella.

"Are you two finally done," he ground out angrily.

I just took a bite of my delicious sandwich and rolled my eyes in his direction. Emily was still smirking when Sam finally rejoined our tense little party. He dropped a soft kiss on his fiancés cheek and took the empty seat beside her. After a moment he reached out and grabbed some food for himself and inhaled it incredibly quickly. Silence filled the little kitchen while we all took the time to enjoy our lunch. Em and I had just cleaned the dishes up with Bella decided it was time for her to speak out.

"Sam, I'm sorry that I cause so much trouble for the pack."

"Bella," Jacob said softly, "you don't cause us any problems. Paul was just being an asshole. You shouldn't let his words bother you because he is always spouting random crap."

"You do just need to ignore Paul, he doesn't know how to filter his thoughts," Sam sighed as he sent Jake a strange look.

After that, more silence stretched around the room and it felt a little uncomfortable in my opinion. Sam and pulled Emily into his side when she returned to the table after finishing the clean up. Jake now had an arm wrapped around Bella's shoulders and she was snuggling into his side. It was no wonder the poor kid had it so bad when she did things like that. She had verbally made it clear she was not interested, yes, but sometimes actions speak way louder than words. Jacob was going to take whatever he saw that made him feel like he had a chance. In the end, he was doings this to himself and it was going to gut the guy when she became a leech.

I let out a sighed and then smiled at the occupants in the room that I liked, "I think it's time we hit the beach now. I know Quil has been driving everyone insane with his need to go cliff diving, isn't that right?"

He nodded happily, "hell to the yes I've been looking forward to doing this all week."

An hour later found me basking in the sun and enjoying the penetrating rays. My skimpy little black bikini was getting me a lot of random attention from passing people. There were a few random cat calls from some of the men who didn't seem intimidated by the size of the Native men present. However they were put off by the low growls and snarls from said men. It was interesting when brother dearest snarled at one man who made eyes for Emily. Sam, he was a possessive guy when it came to his woman, to his imprint, they all were. While overprotective men could be annoying it was relatively cute to see him not liking anyone looking at his future wife.

Speaking of my brother and his imprint, they were currently engaged in one hell of a suck fest beside me. It was a bit nauseating to see them so engrossed in one another but it was nice to see them

Speaking of Sam and Emily, they were having a suck fest right beside me and it was a little nauseating. It made me climb from my spot on the beach and head towards the shoreline. I gladly slipped my feet into the waves as they rolled up on shore. The water was a relatively nice temperature and I walked a little further out stopping when the water was up to my knees. A smile spread on my face because I really did love the ocean. It was kind of serene.

It wasn't very long before I felt a pair of warm arms wrapped around my waist. I screamed before I was even lifted in the air because I knew what was about to happen. I was in the middle of screaming when my entire body went under. Water gushed into my mouth; effectively silencing me as I got my bearings to stand up, spitting water as I did which was incredibly attractive, I'm sure. My eyes narrowed to slits as I looked at the culprit for my underwater voyage. Paul's previously angry face was lit up by his laughter which was something that rarely happened lately. It deflated my anger slightly but not completely.

I decided that he deserved a little payback and slipped my hands into the water so I could send a large splash directly into his smug face. He sputtered on the unexpected rush of water. I was the one laughing now. His features darkened slightly than a hint amusement slid across his face. Before I could comprehend what he was about to do, he had me hoisted over his shoulder and began jogging out of the ocean. As he ran passed our laughing friends and I heard the muttering about cliff diving. That was something I didn't ever want to do. I was terrified of heights, as well as plummeting to my death. Not really the way I wanted to go if I had a choice in the matter at least. The whole jog up the rocky path I struggled to no avail. His wolf strength was no match for me. I sighed in defeat when we arrived at the top of the cliff. Jared and Kim were laughing; Embry gave a slight wave before taking a running leap from the cliff. Paul finally set me down.

"I'm not doing it, no fucking way asshole," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest.

He smirked. "You can either willingly jump with me, or I will carry your ass off this cliff. You know damn well I'll do it too."

I groaned, really not wanting to do this. "Paul, you know I'm terrified of heights."

"I know, but do you really think we would be up here if this wasn't safe? Kim jumps with Jared all the time. How bad can it be? I mean, we wouldn't ever knowingly endanger anyone, well maybe the leech lover. Anyways, do you want them to go first?"

All I could do was nod. Kim smiled at me. "It's scary the first time, than you just can't get enough of it."

Moments later, she and Jared disappeared over the ledge. I heard her shriek on the way down and smiled slightly despite myself. "Don't make do this," I wined like a small child.

"Come on, let's conquer this fear of yours," he said kindly. "I promise I won't let you go, Melanie."

"You know what, if you are going to make me do this, you might have to just carry me off this oversized rock," I admitted. "There is no fucking way that I am going to just jump."

Before I could say a word, he swept me into his arms like I was a blushing bride. The wind hit our bodies as he began to run, then I felt his leap. Suddenly, we were freefalling through the air. What felt like minutes of plummeting was really only a few long seconds. True to his word, he held on to me until our bodies crashed into the water. When I was no longer cradled to him, he kept a hold on my hand, guiding me to the surface. When we emerged, there were hoots and hollers for my major accomplishment of conquering my fear of heights.

My arms wrapped around his neck gently with a smile plastered on my face. He brushed a strand of my black hair off of my forehead; his dark eyes met my green ones with a smile. Our lips met. I'd never been happier to be his imprint then I was in this precise moment.


End file.
